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Luke 18:35-43 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2018%3A35-43&version=NLT

I have no idea who this blind beggar was.  We have no idea what happened to him beyond that day, but I can tell you one thing.  He may have been blind, but he had more spiritual insight than that whole crowd of people.  Curious what makes me think that?  Look at the ways people refer to Jesus in the story.  

When the beggar hears the noise of a crowd he asks, “What’s going on?”  The crowd tells him Jesus from Nazareth is going by.  But when the beggar cries out to him, what does he call him?  Son of David.  Remember back when Luke traced Jesus’ ancestry to King David to demonstrate that he met that criterion of being the promised Messiah?  Like I said, I don’t know who this blind man was, but he knew who Jesus was. This man believed Jesus was God’s promised Messiah, and he knew the prophecy promised that the Messiah would make blind people see.  He wanted in.  He yelled for help.  The more people tried to shut him up, the louder he got.  

I love everything about this story. This man was not missing out on Jesus.  Jesus was near and he wasn’t letting him pass by until he saw him with his own eyes.  His resolve is powerful and, like the persistent widow, it inspires me.  But there’s more. The exchange with Jesus is so profound.  Don’t skip by thinking Luke threw this in casually.  Oh, ya, Jesus healed another guy on the way. It’s not a random story.  Jesus has heard this man call him the Son of David, so he knows the man believes who he is. Jesus asks, “What can I do for you?” and the man asks him to heal his blindness.  Look at what Jesus says to him.  This takes us back to when he spoke with the Samaritan leper, the only one who came back to say thank you.  The man was healed of his disease, but when he went back, Jesus said, “Off you go.  Your faith has made you well.”  He wasn’t just cured of leprosy.  His sins were forgiven because he believed in Jesus.  I think we are seeing the same thing in this story of the blind beggar.  Jesus replies, “Your sight is restored.  Your faith healed you.”  I don’t think he is talking about the man’s blindness when says the second part.  I think the man’s faith in Jesus had healed his soul.  Jesus wanted him to know that he was forgiven, a member of God’s kingdom.  His faith in Jesus made him whole.  Jesus just stopped by to heal his eyes.  The man’s response was to follow Jesus and praise God.  The crowd joined in.  They were loving the show.  Jesus just kept doing amazing things.  It was great, because now they could say they were there when the blind guy was healed along the road to Jericho.  But did they believe in Jesus?  How many of them in their enthusiasm and excitement were actually healed?  Or were they just not blind?